Box spacing roller and presser plate



April 13, 1954 J. E. BIRCH 2,675,119

BOX SPACING ROLLER AND PRESSER PLATE Filed Sept. 14, 1951 .31 FIGJ. 35

Inventor 2W KM Atiorneyo Patented Apr. 13, 1954 STATE-S PATENT QFFlCi'EL B X. SPACING ROLLER AND, PRESSER. PLATE James. E. Birch. Wolverhampton, Eng and.

Applicationfienfiembcr 14, 1,951, SerialNo. 246L676 a Gl'aimsa (o1..19&-3.4:)

provide means for accuratelylocating-successively in a predetermined position each crate or'box in a moving line, for the purpose, for example, of' receiving a load of bottles, jars or like containers from a handling machine or having bottles or the like removed from the crate or box by such a machine. In this connection, a machine with which the locating apparatus constructed according to this invention is adapted foruse, isdescribed in our British co-pendi'ngpatent application No. 19,871 of1950.

According to the present invention the crates or boxes are carried by spaced parallel conveyor belts or chains, and; a roller or abutment, placed transversely of the conveyor belts or chains, is so mounted that it can be moved down between the belts to a level beneath that of the belts, and moved up intermittently to form a stop for each crate or box in turn, so as to hold it in accurate longitudinal relationship relative to a bottle handling-machine or the like.

A transversely movable presser member may be provided, which is movable intermittently to engage one side ofthe crate or box; already located longitudinally by the roller or abutment, and press it against the opposite sidewall of the conveyor, or a plate provided thereon, so that the crate orboie ispositivelyheld and located both longitudinally and transversely.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is a side elevation at the crate locating apparatus.

Fig. 2" is a planview ofi Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram: illustrating the lay-outan-doperation of theapparatus.

Referring to the drawings, the crates l (Fig. 1):, arecarr-iedby parallel spaced conveyor chains Ill which run in horizontal guide. troughs I 2 secured to and supported by cross-members; one of which is shown at l3, connecting the side frames l4 of the conveyor; and" one pair of ground ongaging supporting legs: for the conveyor framework can be seen at I5.

The. chain, guide troughs [2. support atransverse horizontal axis rod I6. upon. which. is pivotally mounted a plate I1 having on its upper surace a, pair of integral opposed brackets I8, these brackets housing the ends of the, axis, pin of, a roller Io positioned between the chains I l, Projecting downwardly from theunderside of the plate I! is a leverin the form of-a pair of struts III, which at their lower endsare pivotally con,- nectedby a cross-pin Z! to the piston rod}: ofa fluid pressure cylinder 2% which isa single acting 2 cylinder; the piston rod 22* being" retracted by an internal spring;

Trunnions 24 on the cylinder 2-3- engage inbeare ing holes inbrac-kets- 25 depending from a plate 26- secured to the undersides of the chain guide troughs I2 so that the cylinder- 23 is. mounted for pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis. The piston rod isshown in full lines in Fig. 1 in its fully retractedposition, in which it will be seen that the plate H has been pivoted downwardly upon its axis rod IE to move the roller I9 downwardly to'a position-below the-level of the conveyorc-hains H, so that crates can pass above the roller I-9. When pressure-fluidisadmitted to the cylinder 2-3 through the conduit 21, the piston rod moves the struts 2=0 to thepositionshownin chain linesin Fig; 1", the plate I I' pivoting' upwardly about the axis rod IS and the roller It beingmoved up, to a position above the level of the chains II, to forma stop for one of the crates I0 as shown in chain lines inFig. 1*.

Pressure fluid will be supplied intermittently to the cylinder 23 at timed intervals synchronized with the speed of the conveyor chains H, the arrangement being such that after havingstopped the first crate Ill of a train, the-roller Id lowers and saidfirst crate commences to move along, above the lowered roller, on the conveyor chains II", the roller rising againafter the transverse centre line of the crate has passed beyond the roller. With this arrangement, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the roller tilts the crate which is still partly above it, andthe next following crate pushes th tilted crate forwards until the said following crate encounters the raised roller t9, the tilted crate having been pushed completely off' the raised roller to be carried along by the conveyor chains H in the normal way:

A flap or armmember 2 8* is pivotal-1y mounted upon one side frame HI of the conveyor frame by means of a horizontal axis pin- 29 engaged in lugs 3'0 provided on the side frame- I4. At its upper end the arm 28" has a presserplate 31 secured thereto, whilst at its lower-- end the arm 28 is pivotally connected withthe end of a piston rod-32 ofa fluid: pressure cylinder 33, disposed transversely to -the line of travel of the e-rates- It. Fhe cylinder 33 is single-acting; thepi'ston rod 3 2= being spring-returned to its retracted position, and when pressure fluid is supplied to the cylinder 33, through the conduit 34", the piston rod 32 pivots the arm 28 upon the axis pin 29- andthe pr-esser plate 3-1 moves transversely and engages with the side of the crate which has just been stopped by the roller I9, pressing the said crate against a further plate 3-5 secured to theopposite side'frame [4; so that the crate l0 is-positively located both longitudinally and transversely.

It will be noted that the cylinder 33 is conveniently pivotally mounted upon a pivot pin 36 in a pair of lugs 31 on one of the depending brackets 25 in which the trunnions 24 of the cylinder 23 are housed.

The timing of the intermittent operation of the cylinder 33 will be such that it moves the presser plate 3| transversely to hold the crate which has just encountered the raised roller l9, and the presser plate is returned to release the crate from this transverse positioning means im mediately before or coincident with the lowering of the roller I9.

Fig. 3 illustrates the operation and layout of V the apparatus in diagrammatic form, a pressure fluid distributing valve being indicated at 33, which valve 38 is preferably a rotary disc valve, such as is described in our co-pending British application for Patent No. 19,871 of 1950, and will be adapted to control also a bottle handling machine which is filling or emptying the crates ill.

The supply conduit 34 to the cylinder 33 is shown in Fig. 3 as connecting directly with the valve 38, whilst the conduit 2'! is shown as incorporating a further individual fiuid control valve 39 for controlling supply to the cylinder 23, which valve 39 is operated by a further cylinder 40 connected with the valve 33.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1. Apparatus for locating crates, boxes and the like carried by spaced parallel conveyors, comprising a plate member pivotally mounted upon the conveyor framework, a roller mounted upon the plate member, said plate member being pivotal about a horizontal axis and the roller being mounted thereon so that it is positioned transverseiy between the conveyors, a depending lever on the underside of said plate member, a bracket secured to the conveyor framework, a pressure fluid cylinder pivotally mounted upon said bracket and disposed with its length in the line of travel of the conveyors, the piston rod of said cylinder being pivotally connected with the depending lever, and said cylinder being operated intermittently for pivoting the plate member and raising and lowering the roller from a position in which it is below the level of the conveyors to a position in which it is above the level of the conveyors to form a stop for each crate in turn, a presser arm pivotally mounted upon a side wall of the conveyor for movement transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyors, a second pressure fluid cylinder pivotally mounted upon said bracket and disposed at right angles to the first pressure fluid cylinder, the piston rod of said second cylinder being pivotally connected with the presser arm below the pivotal axis thereof and said cylinder being operated intermittently to cause said arm to engage one side of a crate already located longitudinally by the roller, and a plate secured to the other side wall of the conveyor opposite said presser arm for engaging the other side of the crate, whereby a crate is held and located in the transverse direction.

2. Apparatus for locating crates, boxes and the like, comprising spaced parallel conveyors on which said crates are placed one after the other, means for moving said conveyors, an abutment placed transversely of the parallel conveyors and mounted for vertical movement between said parallel conveyors from one position, in which it is beneath the level of the conveyors, to a second position in which it is above the level of the conveyors, mechanism for raising said abutment to said second position to engage a first crate above it between the transverse center line and the rear edge thereof to tilt the crate about its forward edge and for maintaining the abutment in said raised position while the next succeeding crate moves said first crate over'an'd 'off the abutment and engages the abutment and is stopped thereby, mechanism for lowering the abutment to said first position a time interval after engagement by said next crate, means operable in timed relation with the movement of said conveyors to intermittently operate said mechanisms, a 'pr'esser member mounted for transverse movement to engage one side of a crate which has been stopped by engagement with said abutment, stop means for engaging the other side of the crate, means for moving said presser member transversely to hold and locate the crate in the transverse direction, a frame member for said conveyor belts, an arm pivotally mounted on said frame member and connected to said presser member, a fluid pressure actuator, and means connecting said actuator and arm.

3. Apparatus for locating crates, boxes and the like, comprising spaced parallel conveyors on which said crates are placed one after the other, means for moving said conveyors, an abutment placed transversely of the parallel conveyors and mounted for vertical movement between said parallel conveyors from one position, in which it is beneath the level of the conveyors, to a second position in which it is above the level of the conveyors, mechanism for raising said abutment to said second position to engage a first crate above it between the transverse center line and the rear edge thereof to tilt the crate about its forward edge and for maintaining the abutment in said raised position while the next succeeding crate moves said first crate over and ofi the abutment and engages the abutment and is stopped thereby, mechanism for lowering the abutment to said first position a time interval after engagement by saidnext crate, means operable in timed relation with the movement of said conveyors to intermittently operate said mechanisms, a frame member for said conveyor belts, a plate pivotally mounted on said frame member, means connecting said plate and abutment, a fluid pressure actuator, a lever connecting said actuator and plate to move the latter and abutment upon energization of said actuator, a presser member mounted for transverse movement to engage one side of a crate which has been stopped by engagement with said abutment, stop means for engaging the other side of the crate, means including a fluid pressure actuator for moving said presser member transversely to hold and locate the crate in the transverse direction, and a common mounting bracket for both said actuators.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,562,582 Parker Nov. 24, 1925 1,588,821 Stebler June 15, 1926 1,741,752 Amory Dec. 31, 1929 1,781,424 Anderson Nov. 11, 1930 2,341,705 Fedorchak Feb. 15, 1944 2,641,371 Webster June 9, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 245,273 Great Britain Jan. 7, 1928 

